Personal portable monitors

Looking for input on personal portable monitors. We are looking at the TFT Blitzfire and the Akron Apollo. I am also going to look at what POK has to offer. We are using a couple of their nozzles on our brush units and they appear to be good quality for less $$$. Typically, we purchase Akron but I kinda like the Blitzfire.

Do you mean personal as in for a FF to cary in his POV or offduty. If so, why are you carying it offduty?

Back to the question, I know a someone who owns a farm somewhere out west, maybe wyo or montana.They have no fire protection, well it is a long ways away. They have 4 akrons at each corner @75' from the barn and 4 at each courner @75' from the house. They also use all 8 monitors out in the fields, put it on a home-made tower-like structure and use it to water their fields. For all that they have a huge lake somewhere with a hydrant and a 1500gpm pump, I think it is either an old waterous or hale attached to a disel engine, placed on a cement pad / shed.

So for all I know, I like akron, never heard of or seen the TFT Blitzfire, I have heard of POK but have not been able to see any of their products.

Blitzfires

We had one in our Dept. that was being evaluated a few years ago. I thought the thing was fantastic, easy to set up and throw a lot of water on exposures quick. I guess it never caught on though as I never saw any more show up on the rigs, too bad.

We run Blitzfires Pre-Connected on 2 of our trucks. One has 200ft of 3" and the other 200ft of 2 1/2" You sure can knock down alot of fire with limited manpower quickly. And you can set it and forget it, because it will shut itself off if it tips over or gets out of control.

I work for an industrial Emergency Services department and we have both the TFT Blitzfire and the Akron Apollo. They both have their strong points. After testing them side by side, here's what I felt about them:

Blitzfire advantages: 1. Auto shutoff if it starts "walking"...good safety feature. 2. Available oscillating feature...Good for unmanned operations, especially cooling a tank or other exposure. Drives the price up, though. 3. Unlike most older ground monitors, can be shut down at the monitor instead of at the pump. 4. Seems to throw a little more water than the Apollo (NOTE: I did not test this. Just "seemed" to me at the time)

Blitzfire disadvantages: 1. Bulky (especially with the oscillating attachment). Can still be deployed by one person, but a little more awkward.

Apollo advantages: 1. Lighter, easier to move in an agressive fire attack 2. Can also be shut down at the gun.

Apollo disadvantages: 1. No automatic shutoff feature. 2. No oscillating option. 3. Had comparable reach to the Blitzfire at the same pressure, but flow did not "seem" equal.

Overall, my recommendation at the time was that the Blitzfire was better for our industrial setting (less aggressive tactics, defensive "cooling" vs. offensive extinguishment)And the auto shutoff was a nice safety feature. However, if I was choosing one for my volunteer department, I'd probably choose the Apollo, with its light weight and smaller profile. On an aggressive structural attack, it could be more easily repositioned and operated by one person, and I didn't find that it had any tendency to "walk" under normal operating pressures. So to answer your question, I suppose it depends a lot on how you plan to use it. I don't really think you'd go wrong either way, though.

POK of North America Inc. is very pleased to announce that it's move to Cambridge, MD, into a new mangement and production facility, heralds the beginning of our status as World Headquarters for POK. We are currently expanding this facility at 5461 Moose Lodge Rd. to further suit our needs. It's an exciting time for us as we grow into our new World Headquarters status.

*Disclaimer* - I do not in any way, shape, form, or fashion work for POK, any of it's suppliers, dealers, or resellers. Nor do I stand to gain in any way, shape, or form from the manufacture or sale of their products. Furthermore I can honestly say that I have never USED their products and therefore will not endorse or denounce them. I DO however believe in having an informed consumer making rational choices based on facts.

And in conclusion - Anything said previous to this disclaimer should be taken in the humorous nature with which it was attempted and not as a serious post.

toddman - from what I have been able to read & research thus far - I think the POK "POKET" (#12697)Monitor deserves at least some hands on play time.

Sit down and make a list of what you expect to be able to do with this, how you plan to store, deploy, and operate it, then try to get a dealer to loan you one of each set-up you're interested in (POK, Akron, TFT, etc.) and have a side by side test day. That's the best way to decide what is right for you.

I apoligise - for the term junk --- I should have said we believe that we as firefighters can make a statement that we intend to try and preserve one of the last vestiges (sp) of what made this country great. American workmanship --- when was the last time you heard someone complain about the quality of an --- fill in the blank --Akron/Elkhart/TFT ect nozzle. The price ? Maybe but seldom the quality, a foregn company may make a comprable item , but if I have the choice to by an item as good or (in my opinion) better, and support an American business ---- its a no brainer. Even if the big boys get bought out or start outsourcing --- there are still many small foundries and machine shops turning out quality products that I would stake my life on. Gotta try --- very few durable items being built here in America.

We are using the blitzfire, the only problem that we have run into was on a cold night, and I mean cold (for jersey anyway). I believe the windchill was 20-30 below and ambient temp was single digits. The monitor started to walk and from as near as we can figure the auto shutoff froze, lucked out no one got hurt. Other than that small and rare problem no complaints.

slackjawedyokel - trust me bro - I hear ya and I agree. I wasn't trying to bust your chops with my previous post, just trying to point out that a "foreign" company still has ties to good ole American workers (and not every "foreign" company has their production overseas).

BTW - the majority of what little industry that's left in my rural county is the small woodworking (cabinet) shops that employ 30-50 folks and work in a shop the size of a small house - not a major factory so I do agree with what you say regarding purchasing from the small shops & getting a quality product (and supporting your local economy).